Medicinal tablet



March 2, 1943.

F. J. BICKENHEUSER MEDICINAL TABLET Filed Oct. 24, 1940 v I ff J15);cWenhe/user Patented Mar. 2, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEDICINALH TABLET Frank J.-Bickenheuser, Tulsa, Okla. Application October 24,1940, Serial No. 362,693

1 Claim.

This invention relates to tablets designed primarily for use inadministering such medicines as are to be dissolved by chemical actionof a substance that it itself soluble in the liquid in which the saidmedicine is to be dissolved. An object of the invention is to provide atablet which can be made up of chemicals and medicines which, ordinarilyif in contact with each other, would react chemically one upon the otherso as to be rendered ineificient or of reduced efliciency, means beingemployed whereby these medicines or chemicals are prevented from actingupon each other until just before they are to be consumed.

It is a further object of the invention .to provide a tablet which isnot held within a protective casing or film but, on the contrary, is (atthe time of use) exposed to direct contact with liquid (e. g.- water)into which it may be placed in its original undissolved state, wherebyprompt solution is effected and the medicine thereby rendered readilyeffective when taken,-without an intermediate period during which aprotective coating must be dissolved, as is the case when taking amedicine inclosed in a capsule.

A further object is to provide a product in which two preparations suchas aspirin and an effervescent mixture or material, are combined in asingle tablet. It is well known to the medical profession and the laityin general that when aspirin is administered with a dilute solution ofsodium bicarbonate, the aspirin is readily soluble in such solution andhence is more efiectivethan when taken alone. For ordinary purposes, theuseful results would not be obtained merebyby combining these twoingredients into one tablet, for the reason that in the presence ofstronger solutions of alkali, the aspirin (acetyl-salicylic acid) is toa considerable extent, hydrolyzed, leaving sodium salicylate and sodiumacetate. The present invention has for an object the formation of atablet made up essentially of aspirin and an effervescent materialpreferably giving by reaction a soluble sodium salt. The components ofthe effervescent mixture will'not react one upon the other, in the drystate, but these rapidly react with each other when the tablet isdropped into water, with the evolution of gas bubbles. I

It is a further object to provide a tablet so shaped that, whenthe'tablets are placed One upon the other, the aspirin portion of eachtablet is at all times protected from direct contact with any same timeto dissolve a protective medium which constitutes a part of the tabletand which is interposed between the aspirin and the efiervescentcomposition contained in the tablet.

With the foregoing objects in view and others which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consist of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully describedand pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may bemade in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing several of the preferred forms of theinvention have been shown.

In said drawing Figure 1 is an enlarged plan view of a tabletconstructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a central transverse section therethrough. v

Figure 3 is a detail view illustrating portions of two tabletspositioned edge to face and showing how the annular portion 5 is keptout of contact with the inner portion I if the tablets are packed inbulk.

Figure 4 shows a section of a modification in which the top and bottomof the annular casing of effervescent salt mixture, and the top andbottom of the aspirin tablet are both flat.

Figure 5 is a section of another form in which the top and bottom of thetablet of aspirin are outwardly curved, as in many of the aspirin-tablets now on the market.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, l designates theinner or central section of the tablet preferably formed with acentralopenportion of the effervescent mixture forming another portionof the tablet.

It is another object to so shape the tablet as to insure flow of aportion of the liberated gas against the inner portion of the tablet(the active medicinal material) regardless of the position of the tabletwhen submerged, thereby insuring sufficient agitation of the tablet toeffect a perfect suspension and solution. of the aspirin and at the ing2 and the opposed faces of this central portion may be concave asindicated at 3. A protecting material or shielding layer 4 preferablysoluble in water is applied to the periphery of the central portionl-and constitutes the base on which is applied the outer or peripheralportion 5 of the tablet, this latterportion being formed preferably ofan effervescent mixture tightly compressed and preferably taperedoutwardly toward its periphery.

Although the alkali in the effervescent material would, (in the absenceof the ring of inert soluble material 4) normally attack the aspirinchemi cally and reduce its efficiency, such objectionable resultis-prevented in the present instance because of the interposed annularshield 4 which can be of a material. readily soluble in water, as forexample, glucose. The outer annular portion 5 is preferably of muchgreater thickness than the inner portion I so that it is thus possibleto stack the tablets one upon the other and package them,

or simply pour a selected number of the tablets 'into a carton, bottleor other bulk package, with no danger of the alkali component of thecompressed effervescent material contacting with any portion of theaspirin. Thus deterioration of the tablet while in storage is prevented.

In Figures 4 and 5 modifications are shown, the dotted circles in thesefigures being put on to show the outline of another tablet, when packedin bulk.

When it is desired to use the tablet, the same is dropped into aconvenient quantity of water, say in a drinking glass, and the materialsforming the annular portion 5 immediately begin to react and toefl'ervesce. If the tablet is in a substantially horizontal position, asubstantial percentage of the generated gas will escape upwardly throughthe opening 2. If the tablet is in an inclined or vertical position,portions of the gas generated will flow along one or both of thesurfaces of the inner portion I. Under any conditions the tablet iscompletely dissolved or-put completely into solution, due to theagitation resulting from the release of the gases and due to the mildlyalkaline nature of the solution of the material 5. Thus when themedicine is administerediit will have maximum therapeutic value becauseof its use with the effervescent material.

It is designed to have the two portions l and 5 of each tablet sobalanced or-proportioned that all parts go into complete suspension orsolution during the same time interval. Hence the more rapidlydissolving effervescent material 5 is of much greater bulk than theaspirin part I.

Importanceis attached to the fact that the tablet is not inclosed onencased as would be true should a capsule be employed for holding it.Instead the therapeutic elements are con stantly exposed so as to bequickly and simultaneously dissolved in water or other selected liquid.

The layer 4 also will dissolve slowly, during the .act of solution ofthe aspirin. This layer need not be of glucose, but can be of variouscompositions, water-soluble gums, sugars, inert salts with no bad taste,etc. being suitable. This could also be of a material that is inert tothe materials I and 5, but which has a medicinal value.

I have showed the central hole in the tablet I, in the drawing. The holecan be omitted if desired, in which event the gas liberated below thetablet will turn the tablet over frequently, keeping the mixture wellagitated until dissolved.

While a combination of aspirin and effervescent material has beendescribed, it is to be understood that other combinations of medicinesmight be used to equal advantage. In every case the finished tablet isin one piece so that there is no danger at any time of separation of theingredients while being stored or handled prior to use. By referring toFigure 3 it will be noted that even though the tablets should be packedin bulk with the edges of some tablets extending into the recesses inother tablets, the edge of the annular portions 5 will-be maintained outof contact with the inner portions I. Thus there is no contact of the(acid) aspirin, with the (alkaline) effervescentv material, which wouldlead to some reaction (though slow) between these, even though dry (asduring long storage of the tablets in bulk, see Fig. 3), which wouldcause deterioration.

v As an example to which the invention is not The effervescent mixturemay be made up from '75 parts powdered citric acid, parts of sodiumbicarbonate and 55 parts of powdered tartaric acid. (If desired 54 partsof this sodium bicarbonate could be substituted by 24 parts of lithiumcarbonate, to give soluble lithia in the tablet). I

Other suitable effervescent mixtures are 2 parts each of tartaric acidand sodium bicarbonate with .1 part of an' inert material, or 4 partssodium bicarbonate, 1 part tartaric acid and 2 parts citric acid, with1-3 parts lactose. Such effervescent mixtures can preferably be veryslightly moistened with strong alcohol, before being compressed into theannular shape shown.

acid materials-in such effervescent compositions I is rather wide,numerous organic or inorganic acid salts re. g. mucic acid, acidphosphates, sodium bisulphate, potassium bitartrate are a few examples),and these acids or acid salts may react with the carbonates orbicarbonates to give medicinally useful products, or not, as, desired.Thus the potassium bitartrate acting on the soda gives Rochelle salt,useful as a laxative.

In another modification, whichis cheaper to construct, the encirclingring of effervescent salt is not much thicker than the aspirin tablet.Suchtablets could be dispensed in tubular bottles, only slightly largerin diameter than the tablet. paper rolls, like a stack of coins in atubular paper wrapper. The tablets shown in the drawing can. bedispensed in a similar manner.

The invention is useful as furnishing aspirin or various other medicineswhich are-insoluble or diflicultly soluble in watertor otherselectedliquid vehicle. V

This application is in part a continuation of my copending application,Serial No. 269,202, filed April 21, 1939, which in turn is in part acontinuation of an earlier application, Serial No. 182,905, filedDecember 31, 1937.

What is claimed is:

A medicinal tablet for being dissolved in. a selected potable liquid,including a medicinal central thin'portion composed of amedicament notreadily soluble in said potable liquid, an effervescent annular portion,and a protective layer between said portions, which layer is soluble insaid potable liquid,the thicknessrof the central portion being less thanthe thickness of a neighboring portion of the said annular portion,thereby to provide central recesses in the opposed faces of the tablet,and the curvature of the periphery. of the annular portion and the Orthey could be dispensed in oiled'

